Re: An American View of Cricket (longish)

Randy Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> Richard R. Hershberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Randy Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > > Richard R. Hershberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > Randy Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>  
> > > > So if I were to take a poll, asking people which was the better
> > > > team last season, the Yankees or the Devil Rays, most people
> > > > would respond by inquiring what exact day I meant?  Only in your
> > > > version of reality.
>  
> > > No, the season is over now.  The Marlins were the best team this
> > > year.  The NYY were the best team in the AL.
>  
> > You are weaving and dodging (badly): 
> 
> ?
> 
> > I didn't mention the Marlins.
> 
> Since we are talking about the best we felt the Marlins should be
> mentioned.
> 
> > I asked about the Devil Rays.  The vast majority of people, when
> > asked whether the Yankees or the Devil Rays were the better team
> > last season, would compare their respective overall records and
> > conclude that the Yankees were the better team. 
> 
> And if you actually read what we said you would read "The NYY were
> the best team in the AL."
> 
> That means that the NYY were the better than all the other teams in
> the AL.  Tampa Bay is in the AL.  Therefore, the NYY were better
> than the Tampa Bay squad.
> 
> Is this "weaving and dodging?"
> 
> > If it were the case that the Devil Rays won most of their games
> > against the Yankees this would be regarded as an interesting
> > fluke, but would not change the answer. 
> 
> In the games that the Devil Rays won they were the better team.
> 
> > Which team happened to win the last of their games against one
> > another would not matter in the least.
> 
> It would if that team moved on to the playoffs.  But otherwise it
> wouldn't.
> 
> > The problem is that, in your definition, the question "which was the
> > better team last season" is meaningless. 
> 
> Not at all.  If you wish to qualify best team with the phrase "over
> last season" then you look at the playoff/WS structure to determine
> which team was the best over last season.
> 
> But that hardly means that the team that wins the WS is the best
> w/o qualification.

I missed that you did stated that the Yankees were the best team in
the AL.  Sorry about that.  So let's change the question slightly: 
which was the better team last season:  the Blue Jays or the Devil
Rays?  As you have stated your criteria, this is an unanswerable
question, as neither went to the playoffs.
> 
> That's the part that seems hard for you to grasp.  Teams do not
> have absolute levels of ability.  They don't have even absolute
> potentials.  
> 
> > The question can only be asked with regard to one game.
> 
> The question can only be answered with regard to one game.  That's
> why scores start at 0-0, game in and game out.
> 
> > Why you think that this is a useful,
> > much less necessary, definition is one thing.
> 
> Whether it is useful matters not but it most certainly is
> necessary.  Game in and game out the score starts at 0-0 and each
> team plays to find out who is better.

And what you can't grasp is that, however splendid your definition
might be, it is not how "better team" and "worse team" are commonly
understood.  The vast majority of fans would have no problem answering
the question I posed above about the Blue Jays and the Devils Rays: 
they would look that the teams' respective win/loss records and that
would be that.  I really don't care if you want to use your own
definition, but to pretend that this is the only definition is to
actively work against actual communication.

You might, by the way, contemplate the concept of "necessary
definition" and why it is meaningless.

While in a contemplative mood, you might consider ashcanning your use
of the royal "we".  It is a literary affectation which shouts "I am an
ass!"

Richard R. Hershberger